|| JANUARY WRAP UP || I READ 13 BOOKS AND STARTED 2019 WITH GREAT BOOKS

It's time for my first Wrap Up of 2019, peeps! Y'all know these are my favourite posts to read, write, comment on and devour, so I'm super excited to share with you all the amazing books I read during the first month of this great year. I can't believe how many great books I read! I'm certainly shocked. Overall, I read 13 BOOKS, 5331 pages and 9 of those books were dievrse in some way (because, yeah, this year is gonna be all about the statistics). LET'S BEGIN!

THE HATING GAME || sally thorne || ★★★

I can't believe my first read of the year was a contemporary book! And a romantic one! I had certainly heard great things about this book and many of you recommended it because I had loved The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, so I had no doubt to pick this one up. What I found in this book, however, disappointed me quite a bit. Let's say it just wasn't what I was expecting.
I don't think the way this story is narrated is any good as there are maaaannnyyy unnecessary paragraphs and too little dialogue. Besides, even though the characters felt quite realistic, the plot itself was ridiculous. This book follows two editors (yeeyyy, bookworm rep), Lucy and Josh, who hate each other to death for no apparent reason. A part of that could be understandable, but the entire book is about how they are coldblooded archenemies, rivals, total opposites and follows how they basically hate each other. FLOR NO REASON! I found this all so 1) childish, 2) absurd and, 3) incoherent. The Hating Game is a book with a silly plot that feels too unnatural and unrealistic to the reader, which makes it really hard to see yourself reflected in the story. I crave to see myself in books, but this plot made it impossible for me to see any of that.
But I still enjoyed it. What can I say? Despite of it all, I had a great time reading this book; laughing, smiling and letting the pages slid by on their own. This was definitely an adictive, entertaining and amazing read that hooked me from beginning to end. And I truly liked it. I can't tell you I didn't love The Hating Game. The characters, the tension, the romance... I truly did love it all. I fond this book utterly entertaining and had a greaaaaat time with it. It was definitely a fun way to start off 2019.

A VERY LARGE EXPANSE OF SEA || tahereh mafi || ★★★★★

HELL YEAH! I think those two words capture everything I want to say about A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO READ AND WHAT I WANT TO PUT OUT THERE IN THIS COMMUNITY. This is what I want to see in YA and asdfyguhjy THIS FREAKING BOOOOOOOOOKKKKK. Definitely from the best things I've ever read in my entire life, that's for sure.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea follows the story of Shirin, a Muslim teen living in the US during the year 2002, quite close to the events of 9/11. This is a love story, if you want to put it that way, but I don't think it actually is. Not deep down, at least. I think there is so much more in this book than a love story. If you know Tahereh Mafi's poetic, fluent and GORGEOUS writing, then perhaps I should warn you that her writing style isn't like that in this book. On the other hand, it's  100% straight-forward, honest and simple, which perfectly adjusts to the book itself. The characterization of Shirin as a protagonist is magnificent; same goes for all characters here. It was 11pm when I finished this book. My family was asleep and I was crying on my bed as I stared at the ceiling. Among my thoughts, I began to admire the author's stunning work, the sadness of this reality, how I want to read about more stories like this one in YA and all the feels, of course. But above all, I wondered how Tahereh Mafi had written such a  masterpiece. A Very Large Expanse of Sea is one of the best novels I've read in my life and it's EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO FIND IN THIS COMMUNITY.
As a book that forms part of the #ownvoices movement, there will be people who will see themselves represented in this story and others who won't. And that's OKAY. This is inspired in Mafi's story, and you can like it or not. We have sooooooo many stories told from the same privileged side, the same old same old. How many characters of the sort have we read about? They ALL get to be complicated, strong, sporty, artists, superstars or whatever they wanna be. They all get to be superheroes, so it's time to reflect that reality in literature.

EVERMORE || sarah holland || ★

Deaj, deaj, DEAAAAAJJJJ. Someone pelase remind me of why I decided to read Evermore. You all know about my unpopular opinion of Everless de Sarah Holland, but I still believed the author had this duology quite planned out, so I wanted to see how this story ended, even when I hated the first book. C'mon, how bad could it be? And so I read Evermore. Was it worth it? No. At least not for me. Do I regret reading this book? Yup. Do forgive me for my unpopular opinion xD.

Once more, I couldn't connect with any of the characters (who don't even show some kind of arc or evolution, the book is a HUGE cliché within the fantasy genre, the plot is suuuuuper predictable, I don't get why this book is even so hyped and, ugh, I have a very long list of complaints. Now, i won't go into all of the things that didn't work for me here, but I will say that my problem with Sarah Holland's duology comes from her own execution of things and her way of telling this story. Please forgive me for saying all this and I MEAN NO OFFENSE. It's okay if you loved the first book (because I know most of you did, which is GREAT), but it just didn't work for me. #UnpopularOpinion.

THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED || becky albertalli || ★★

TOOOOOOOOOOXXIIICCC. Honestly, I can not understand why everyone loves this book so much and goes on saying it's "a sweet and pretty love story and afsydgufhgjt". WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!
Our protagonist, Molly, is full of insecurities and self-esteem problems and has never kissed anyone or had a boyfriend, etc. And I'm not criticizing any of that, but when we usually see a character like that it's because the message that is going to be sent is one of self-improvement. The message of this novel is "love yourself only when someone else does not reject you". Molly was constantly noticing that others thought of her and the whole plot revolved around Molly getting a partner, because "but could not be happy." Molly's sister and her entire family have the mission of finding him a boyfriend because of that, and they even say "Molly Enojona" if it's not "Molly Enamorada". Basically, the message is that happiness is tied to having a partner and not being rejected by others. Otherwise, you are in a serious problem and you are miserable, just as Molly was 90% of the book and you'll just want to cry. Only when a boy accepts her does Molly say that she is happy and that she loves herself. THIS BOOK SENT THE WRONG MESSAGE 100% !!!!!

I'm sure many of us will feel identified with Molly because, yes, her descriptions are very real and we're all a bit like her from time to time. You have no idea of how much I appreciated the diversity and the representation of topics such as insecurity and self-esteem in this book because they tend to be ignored in YA literature or romanticized. But that is all the positive that I can say about this novel. Then, the only thing I got from Becky Albertalli's message was: "Molly is miserable and everyone feels bad for her because she does not have a boyfriend and that's why it's important what everyone thinks of her and the universe revolves around having a partner to make her happy and only then can she love herself. " Pffffff .... WHAT KIND OF BOOK IS THIS, FOR GOD? UUUUGGGGHHHHH.

MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE || taylor jenkins reid || ★★★★★

After loving The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and getting tons of recs, I set myself the goal of reading everything Taylor Jenkins Reid has ever written. Yup, that's right. All of her books. Let's say it's some kind of bookish goal for 2019 :)
Maybe in Another Life follows the story of Hannah Martin when she returns to Los Angeles at the age of 28 and not knowing what to do with her life. Without work, without a partner, without knowing what he wants from the world and without a city to call home. When she returns with her best friend, the author presents us with two simultaneous but different time lines. On the one hand we have chapters that follow the story of Hannah if she decides to leave with the boy she likes since high school, and on the other hand we have the story of what would happen if she does not. Taylor Jenkins Reid's plot is extremely original and perfectly narrated. I thought the book would be confusing, but it wasn't. AT ALL! I think I've fallen in love with this author. She truly makes me forget about everything that surrounds me for a while and I ignore the real world from beginning to end. And everything around me evaporates. I don't know, this woman just has something with words ... Her writing is extremely addictive and engaging and there isn't only a kind of magic in her, but also in her execution of that very same magic to create stories, characters and entire books is magnificent.

Maybe Another Time is a book that hooked me from head to toe, which is something I deeply admire while reading. I really got to connect with the characters because everything in Reid's novel is utterly REALISTIC. It's so... human. The best part? We never really know what choice our protagonist made, and each reader will have a preference for a timeline, but perhaps we will never know. Maybe we know in another life. Aaagggghhh, this book is so beautiful. I really loved it. I was planning to give it 4 stars because I do not think it's a 5-star book either. And then I wrote this review and these words and changed my mind. Maybe it's not about that, right?

KINGDOM OF THE BLAZING PHOENIX || julie c. dao || ★★

First bookish disappointment of the year, peeps! Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao is the sequel to Forest of a Thousand Laterns, a book I truly adored in 2018, so you bet I was looking forward to this one really badly!
The problem I had with this is that it has a completely different plot than the first book. What I enjoyed so much about Forest of the Thousand Lanterns was how dark it was. That book was basically a 100% Asian-inspired, dark tale that revolved around the legend of the evil queen of Snow White. Our protagonist, Xifeng, is the villain of history. Although I didn't LOVE it, that book had political intrigues, badass villains, a twisted plot and a complex protagonist in a beautifully created  and magically-crafted world. And that dark road promised a grand finale. Instead, what Julie C. Dao did in her sequel was to create a new protagonist, Jade, and return Xifeng as a secondary character. Jade is our adorable good girl, the princess of the story, the queen who plans to take back what is hers and blah, blah, blah, fairies and unicorns and deaajjjjj. Jade is Snow White, in a nutshell. AND I HAVE 0% INTEREST IN READING ABOUT PERFECT HEROINES. The depth that Dao had achieved is thrown overboard to make room for Snow White. And that's not what I'm interested in reading. It bored me to death!
Maybe I should've seen this coming because, after all, this duology is a retelling of Snow White, but for some reason I expected to continue reading about a villain. What I found in Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix was disappointing not only in terms of content but also in the quality of what I was reading. Aggghhh. I've warned you of what you'll find in this installment. Did you like the first book? Well, this one is not like that at all. I can't say whether you'll like it or not, but beware.

DRY || neal shusterman y jarrod shusterman || ★★★★

THIS BOOK DESERVES ALL THE HYPE. As with all Shusterman books, Dry will leave you completely traumatized xD Well, maybe that is not the correct word, but this man always deals with real issues of our world in science fiction novels (which in this case he wrote with his son and asfdygruh that's so cuteeeee). This book tells us of a prolonged drought to such an extent that several US states run out of water. Completely. There is no water, seriously. You won't be able to help to feel deeply alarmed once you finish this book.
I WAS SO THIRSTY WHILE READING. There are hundreds of descriptions of the lack of water and what our characters are going through, how they only hydrate when their skin begins to crack... of EVERYTHING. I don't know how mere words made me THIRSTY! I thinkt hat tells you how great the writing is already. It's simply magnificent. The characters are... quite original, too, but I think they were the exact reason that made me give Dry a lower rating. We follow the popular girl from school, Alyssa (who at no time did I managed to see as a strong female protagonist and I was quite insufferable), and Kelton, a boy who was prepared for the apocalypse all his life and for some reason knows everything, from lighting a bonfire underwater to reviving a body. None of the characters was realistic in the very least and I couldn't connect with them. It was so... strange. A plot so real with messages as serious as this one but with such silly and incoherent characters.
Anyway, this novel is a slice of disturbing science fiction that will leave you thinking. Not only is it a great book, but the message that the authors want to convey is more than obvious: we are running out of water. Dry tackles environmental problems that many shrug away, the possible reaction of current societies and a possible scenario among many. For me, none of that was what is truly disturbing. I was shocked regarding the fact that Dry is a mirror of what we could become. How far are we willing to go? What makes us human and how fragile is that so called humanity? At what point do we become monsters and what is forgiven? Dry is one of the best novels I've read this year, okay?

EMPRESS OF ALL SEASONS || emiko jean || ★★★★

When we say that we need diverse fantasy, we are talking about books like Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean. This is one of those novels that you swallow whole because they are simply beautiful. In this case, Emiko Jean brings us epic fantasy, Japanese mythology, legends, weapons and a beautiful setting. YES! YES! YEEESSSSSS!
This novel was extremely captivating, addictive and one of those that are built in such a sweet way that it leaves behind a taste of honey in your mouth. I fell in love with everything about Emiko Jean's writing and the fictional world she created. I enjoyed devouring his words and the images he illustrated in my mind. Few achieve something like that, and I could not detach myself from the pages. A list of some pretty great things: an epic and strong protagonist, humans vs. monsters called yōkai, a competition to marry the prince only if you survive four tests in rooms set according to each season (autumn, winter, spring and summer), a prince sooooo adorable, friendship, a hooking story that deals with important topics, incredible women, an exquisite pen and a beautiful world. Monsters, humans, diversity, strong women EVERYWHERE. I thought this was from a girl who wanted to seduce a prince to steal her fortune and, although this book is that, the character of Mari is everything next to the grand scheme of things.
State after having finished this reading: inspired. What didn't I like about Empress of all Seasons? The book has a slow beginning and my only problem was the INSTALOVE. I know that not everyone is bothered by this, but I oooooooodio the INSTALOVE. The characters meet and at first everything was fine, but suddenly we find this romance of "I would give my life for you, blah, blah, blah, my heart was missing a piece because you were missing afsydgefurhj" HAHAHAHAHAHAH. I haaaate instalove! Luckily, there wasn't a love triangle, although it seemed there was going to be. I REALLY APPRECIATED THE FACT THAT AT LEAST THAT CLICHÉ WASN'T THERE.

THE WICKED KING || holly black || ★★★★

And so I've already read The Wicked King, the long-awaited sequel to The Cruel Prince (which was one of my favorite books of 2018 and of all times, in case you didn't know). Oh, these books are so much the best I've read but at the same time I'm extremely angry with this sequel.

Reading The Wicked King is like being... drunk xD, It's like getting drunk with Holly Black's gorgeous words that are as sweet as wine in my lips, and I'm suddenly in the middle of all those political games played at Faerie. It's like seizing to exist because Holly's words command so, and then traveling to a whole new world full of magic that is born just from a simple quill. Rarely have I witnessed such a thing, and do forgive me for comapring a book to being drunk, but I can't come up with a description as accurate as this one. The world this womanhas created is one of those that trap you with beautiful sentences and then devour you whole. The complexity of the characters in this story make them utterly human and realistic. And... I. HAVE. NO WORDS. Holly Black's books are officially a drug. SORRY FOR MY METAPHOR xD. But what do you want me to do? I found myself lost inside this magical world, embraced in games and lies and riddles and sharp daggers. I HAVEN'T READ ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE, and I doubt I ever will. Not again, at least. Jude is one of those strong protagonists I wanna see in books and she's everything I want to read. AND THAT ENDINGGGGGG. afsdyegthjoksudhfugitj. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOOOOWWWWW. I had about 5 existencial crisis, 3 heart attacks and 7 states of shock while reading The Wicked King. 

Now, I swear I wanted to give this book 5 stars and, yeah, I REALLY WANTED TO LET THOSE THINGS THAT BOTHERED ME GO. I wanted to turn a blind eye upon them or just look away. But I can't, no matter how badly I want to. PROBLEM #1: There was barely any Cardan. And I love Cardan! I can't believe I waited a year to get such a limited amount of Cardan scenes! I found his character to be so forgotten in this book. PROBLEM #2: NOTHING HAPPENS DURING THE FIRST 60% OF THE BOOK. I admit that I didn't notice this as I read, so this doesn't mean that the book feels slow, dense or boring. On the contrary, I didn't even realize there was so little action because I was so hooked, but then I did see it. I realized that barely anything happens during the first 60%. And I can't forgive that. I want to, but I can't, specially in a SEQUEL. Things were meant to go down in this book because they didn't in the first one, but nothing actually happened until the last 40% of the book, which is surely the most intense thing you'll ever read, that's for sure. Still, I can't look away from the fact that action is positively lacking. THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IN A FREAKING SEQUEL !!! I can't believe I wanted a year to read more of Cardan and to see things go down and... UGH. I FEEL SO DISAPPOINTED :(

THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES || mindy mcginnis || ★★★★★

WOW Just... wow. This is one of those moments where I don't know how to write because I'm... in shock. Wow, Mindy McGinnis. I've had this book in my TBR for 3 YEARS, people. I let 3 years pass while I listened to every love this book and say it was life-changing. I WISH I HAD READ THIS SOOOOONNNEEERRRR.

The Female of the Species is a dark YA contemporary, with 1) excellent moral questions, 2) representation of sexual abuse, rape culture and society as it is, 3) morally gray characters and 4) a complexity that WON'T LEAVE YOU INDIFFERENT. This novel blew my mind from beginning to end. Every word in The Female of the Species was specifically chosen to sculpt a humanity that we rarely find in literature. Mindy McGinnis' story speaks of who we are, of the violence present in each species, of anger, love, the feeling of believing in ourselves, our value, the society in which we believe and what we defend, the most horrible social stereotypes and much more. And THIS is the book I want to defend as a person. The Female of the Species is one of those books that open your eyes, and I think everyone should read it. I doubt that the educational system will accept to give it in the schools, but everyone should read it, whether you're an avid reader or not. WOW JUST... WOW.

QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS || cassandra clare || ★★★★★

I might call myself a "blogger" and stuff, but here goes a confession: I HAVE NO IDEA OF HOW TO REVIEW Queen of Air and Darkness. And that's the truth.
I have no doubts that this book deserves the 5 stars I'm giving it. I believe that Cassandra Clare's work here is just magnificent, and there's nothing more left to say apart from that. Can I end my review right there? I think my overall message is clear. I think this is the best book this woman has written, and here I was believing that Lord of Shadows was my favourite (although perhaps it is, because that one holds a special meaning for me that I cannot change or forget). The THEMES explored by Clare are themes I had never seen explored in YA literature in that way, or that well. Yes, I could tell you about how great the Shadowhunters series is; the world, the plot, the amazing way in which it's written and knit together... But I don't know... I think we're in a place where none of that is necessary. I've read 12 books by Cassandra Clare in my life and that chat is already a cliché, people. What CAN I say about Queen of Air and Darkness? That it left me speechless. I cried for the most part of the first 500 pages, then smiled for about 100 pages and had my heart smashed during everything else. I COULDN'T PUT THIS DOWN. Agh, I really wanna just jump into the spoilers so that this review makes sense, but I can't. This book was so... Nope. I can't do this. I SURRENDER, OKAY? I HAVE NO WAY TO EXPLAIN, DESCRIBE OR EVEN UNDERSTAND THIS BOOK MYSELF. This is a freaking masterpiece and I'm crying as I write this review. What do I see in QoAaD? I see a story about loss, grief and family, about how diverse the world is and about how each of us is doing the best we can. I see a book that reflects exactly the social and political models of TODAY's world and what we're going to do about it. I see a book that appears to be pure fiction, with angels and demons and parabatais and these beings called "shadowhunters", but it is so much more than that. I see a story that appears to be made of fairy dust but in reality is a lot more than that, just as a mirror that relfects our reality, opens your eyes and leaves you thinking. I see a book that serves as the perfect example to what power and magic can do together if they're united by mere words. I see a book with forbidden romances, epic stories, plenty of clichés and pages full of adventure. I see one of the best books I've ever read. T-H-A-N-K-----Y-O-U, Cassandra Clare. Thank you.
Do I have my complaints? Definitely! No book is 100% perfect and bulletproff! But sometimes the perfection of books comes from recognizing its imperfections, don't you think? Like every book, Queen of Air and Darkness is flawed and is quite controversial. Unfortunately, I can't get into these flaws without spoilers, so... :( I can say that I feel truly disappointed by the ending. QoAaD was an EXCELLENT concusion to the trilogy, but the ending of the book itself just broke my heart. I feel that Clare merely chose to cut corners and go for the easiest solution to a huge plot and, well, certain things about the end just LET ME DOWN. Still, for all of those who wonder whether Queen of Air and Darkness is worth it, here goes MY answer: It is. It definitely is.

THE GILDED WOLVES || roshani chokshi || ★★★

The Gilded Wolves was among my most anticipated reads of 2019, although I only knew its cover and title xD. Seriously, I had absolutely no idea what this novel was about, but I still wanted to devour it. AND I CERTAINLY LOVED THIS BOOK !!!
What did I like? 1) The world. The Gilded Wolves takes place in Paris during 1889 and is in a way a worldbuilding both magical and historically accurate. I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF THIS WORLD that mixes magic with real-life atmospheres. 2) The characters were super interesting to read about and I enjoyed every single one of them. THEY'RE SO ORIGINAL! 3) The magic system is absolutely UNIQUE and blew my mind from beginning to end. 4) CHOKSHI'S WRITING STYLE IS AMAAAAZING AND 100% MAGICAL AND IT TRULY ILLUSTRATED AN IMAGE IN THE READER'S MIND. I definitely adored this book and it left a sweet taste in my mouth because of all the magic.
BUT it's all too CONFUSING. Chokshi throws us into this world and into this plot that appears to be half-way started and I had a hard time understanding thing. There are only a few explanations, which didn't even help me that much at the end of the day. I also feel that the world was sort of left aside and it had the potential to be so much more in the plot and that there was 0% of character arcs or evolution or complexity. Plus, it was confusing. Did I say that already? Chokshi throws a little bit of Egyptian mythology, European history, a little bit of Mathematics, History and freaking Napoleon. She throws in a couple of elements that have nothing to do with one another and just brings them together in her quest to write something "complex". I believe she tried to hard to create an eye-catching plot and so she brought together all these elements that simply made no sense together. This is a book full of riddles and maths and tricks, and it could have been great, but it wasn't explained well enough and the development was hard to follow. I still had a great time, though, so I don't know... xD.

THE GIRL KING || mimi yu || ★★★

Many are calling the 2019 literary year of Asian fantasy and I love it. So many Asian-inspired novels are coming and atsdfyguhj I'm finally going to get all that diverse fantasy I'm looking for! Let's go little by little, yes, but I'm already excited. The Girl King is a book that I have in my sights since I saw its title and cover, and I certainly loved it.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved every second of the reading and for sure I'm dying for the sequel. But now that I think about it, I do not really have many good things to say besides "I loved this book." I think we need to see more diverse fantasy such as that posed by Mimi Yu, fantasy that allows itself to be complex and unexpected and addictive as well as DIVERSE. The characters, the setting, the magic, the originality of the story and the flow of this story... Everything. I loved everything about this book. I NEED THE SEQUEL WHERE IS IT GIVE IT TO ME NOOOOOWWWWW.
Now, my complaints? 1) The Girl King is a pretty much a cliché within the genre. I understand that we have seen this book a thousand times from the 'privileged' side, and it is time to see it from another side, but I still want to see different books. I want a different fantasy, yes, but to get out of the clichés and play safe. And I want something new. The Girl King is nothing I haven't read before. 2) Everything gave the impression that I was going to read about villains and antiheroes and sisters and ALL THAT THAT FASCINATES ME IN A BOOK, but it was not like that. Moreover, I think our protagonist was more of a hero than any other (ugh) and the only antihero was reduced to a silly character that I would like to know more about. 3) It's meant to be a book narrated by three people, but their chapters are not balanced and then we only read a lot of some and little of others, and I do not feel that I have come to connect with any of them. 4) I don't think it's actually thaaaat great, being honest. 5) Meh.